The Hopeless Romantic 2

                                                                             

I was on my way home in the evening. I alighted from the bus and walked to the next park. Again, I wanted to keep walking down but an instinct told me ‘No Maryam, turn here!’.

I entered the next turning which was just close to a GTB ATM stand…and behold…I saw him!

He was walking towards the GTB ATM stand to withdraw money. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was I dreaming? How is it possible to see someone just like that in Lagos???!

Oh well, I was very excited. I was about to walk up to him and thank him for his kindness in the morning when I noticed a lady beside him.

Yes, a lady. Did I say a lady? Well, lets call her a woman. She was very big…three times bigger than me and 2¹/₂ times bigger than ‘Fine guy in kaftan’. I decided to stay back and watch them walk to the ATM stand.

So ‘Fine guy in kaftan’ placed his small black bag in between his legs and inserted his ATM card into the machine. ‘Big woman’ stood at the side of the machine, waiting for him.

I told myself, this is it! This is a sign that you should look forward and keep going. I didn’t just think about that, I placed my hands forward and kept moving…telling myself that it was the time to forget all about ‘Fine guy in kaftan’. Believe me, if the ‘big woman’ gets hold of me, I will break into two!

I scurried my way through the busy road to get home on time and have a memorable moment with my family. I also needed to eat iftar (food Muslims eat after breaking at sunset) and prepare for the lovely weekend.

I had just gotten to the park where keke napeps usually queue for passengers when I noticed that the area was empty.

I heard ‘hajia’ behind me but I thought that my ears were deceiving me again. I stood at the park and looked around. No napep was in sight. It was then I remembered that it was a Friday. Friday evening in Ikorodu is a mess! 

READ ALSO: The Hopeless Romantic 1

 

“Hi”. Someone walked beside me. It was ‘Fine guy in Kaftan’ again. Really? How did he meet up with me? When did ‘big woman’ go? How did he even see me? Is this love by fate? As in Abdur Rahman and Hamdalah in my first novel series?

I smiled and greeted him.

“I am the guy you met this morning”. He smiled in the brightest way.

Of course, I know that. How could I forget you ‘Fine guy in kaftan’?

I replied with, “Yes, thanks so much for this morning”.

“We give all thanks to Allah”. He said, smiling.

I smiled back.

READ ALSO: The Awkward Week 1

“How was work today? Hope it wasn’t too stressful?”

“No...it wasn’t”.

“So where are you going?”

I told him. He told me where he was going to. There was a long queue to enter a napep to the area he lived. Entering the napep that led to his destination will only mean that I alight at the middle of the road…so no big deal.

We were leaving together when I heard a napep calling passengers to where I was going.

“I’ve gotten one…thanks…bye”. I said between breaths, hurrying to the napep. He waved at me and entered the next road. The napep drove out of the park and I had a plastered smile on my face. 

If I could see him again, I would see him again!

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Fast forward to weeks later, I never saw ‘Fine guy in kaftan’, in the bus, at the ATM stand or at the park…I never saw him again.

READ ALSO: Monday Morning Turned B..

I had several thoughts…I could have followed him to the long queue. We would talk for long, know more about ourselves and exchange numbers…but it didn’t happen that way.

Looking back, I see that day as a dream. Let’s say, I’m still a hopeless romantic.

Stay tuned for the next episode of My Life in Lagos: The Scammers.